Casinos continually search for new games which encourage players to spend more time wagering. One way of stimulating player interest involves the award of a larger pay off. Another strategy involves introduction of games that are novel and appeal to a player's desire for novelty and strategies which increase the interest level of the player. Another technique is to combine the two above-identified strategies for increasing the potential player payout and player stimulation by novel games.
A further trend is to provide games which can only be consummated over a somewhat protracted period of time. An example of such a game involves tournament play in which a player is awarded an initial number of credits and the play is intended to continue over a period time at the end of which awards are made for the participants in the tournament based on having enjoyed distinguished performance over that time period. Tournament play increases the duration of time during which the player participates, but large numbers of people are still excluded from a tournament type of environment for any of a number of reasons. One common reason for not participating in a tournament involves the player's obligation to discontinue play for other activities. This necessarily decreases the total number of participants who have the desire to play for protracted periods but are unable to commit the time in one session.
Apart from tournament play, the industry in general would still like to develop games that encourages a player to participate in an outcome that involves sustained play over a protracted period of time. This would be analogous to "frequent usage or participation" programs that reward an individual for ongoing loyalty to a particular entity. Various devices have been introduced in the industry which allow a player to be "tracked" by the gaming establishment so that it is easier to reward a player who has demonstrated a penchant for either long term play or play involving a relatively large amount of money. One example involves player identification cards which are downloaded into the gaming machines that allows the player's activity as a function of time to be recorded. Many players, however, are reluctant to participate in what they may view as a form of surveillance and therefore player tracking instrumentalities in which the player is identified has been met with only moderate acceptance by players.